Rain Water and Living Soil

[tonyww93]

Imo rain water/ fishtank water/ then tap if u know ur living soil and trying to avoid nutes cuz bugs, ECT... But I'm talking mainly for bioactive soil not just living soil

 

[Natep]

Hi

Currently I’m in mid flower with a couple of autos (1 x FB Blue Dream, 1 x Zam Bluberry).

This is my 3rd grow but the 1st time I’ve tried living soils.

Indoor grow in 20l pots, with LED lighting. limited space as it’s a setup at home and it’s still illegal in my country.

I have many questions but I’m trying to learn from the information already here on the forums so I don’t piss people off asking things that have already been answered.

However, that said I do have one I can’t find a concrete answer for.

Is there an issue with using rain water with living soil under LED light?

I know my plants have some deficiency’s and from the info gathered so far I think it is just because I followed the directions for my dry amendments but too late or the nutrients in the soil just ran out quicker then expected.

BUT….. while frantically trying to diagnose my problem I found a thread on another site that said something along the lines of

“rain water isn’t good with living soil as the TDS ppm is too low and the plant can’t take up the nutrients”

Supposedly it’s similar to RO water in that regard and you need to raise the ppm’s with something like cal/mag to around 400ppm.

But then adding cal/mag to the rain water could have a negative effect on the microbes in the soil.


I’ve got myself all confused . If anyone can shed some light and maybe explain the science behind that idea (if it’s even true?) I’d be eternally grateful.

Whew that was long winded…..

Thanks in advance

Living soil requires big pots. I wouldn’t go less than 10 gallon. The soil should never run out of nutrients. You need to be constantly building new mulch layers in your pots. Add you dry amendments and castings every couple weeks. Do not use any type of synthetic nutrient. It will kill the microbes in soil that are breaking down minerals making them available to your plants.

 

[Natep]

You need to make sure you build layers in your pots. 2” sand and rock in bottom. Add silts and clays to top soil. Add 4” layer. Then 8” of soil on top of that. The will make you A E and O horizons. Super important in living organic soils.

 

[Natep]

Ya most the living soil mixes is a joke unless u get someone that knows about the clean up crew/microbes for the long term (can be used for season after season without rotation) takes a while to fully establish one

Go harvest imo.

 

[SpursGrower]

You need to make sure you build layers in your pots. 2” sand and rock in bottom. Add silts and clays to top soil. Add 4” layer. Then 8” of soil on top of that. The will make you A E and O horizons. Super important in living organic soils.

Thanks, for now (after reading what you guys recommend) I don’t think I have the space to do living soil. It’s definitely one I’m going to do in the future hopefully when I’ve got a nice big garden where I can compost and farm worms . But for now I will stick to plain old soil

 

[Natep]

Thanks, for now (after reading what you guys recommend) I don’t think I have the space to do living soil. It’s definitely one I’m going to do in the future hopefully when I’ve got a nice big garden where I can compost and farm worms . But for now I will stick to plain old soil

You can do it in a 2x2 space. Don’t be afraid to put multiple plants in one pot.